JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 554,842 Shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 35.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,101,000 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after purchasing an additional 554,842 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.40% of Franklin Resources worth $48,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Franklin Resources by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 148,049 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,850,000 after buying an additional 30,763 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Franklin Resources by 169.3% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,909 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 4,972 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 41.1% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 26,189 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 7,634 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Franklin Resources by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 114,551 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $2,769,000 after purchasing an additional 17,001 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company’s stock.

Franklin Resources Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BEN opened at $27.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.39. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.25 and a 12 month high of $28.32.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.15. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 6.97%.The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Franklin Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 122.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BEN. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Franklin Resources currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $25.89.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.